The Trail of the Demon and Other Stories

The twelve stories in this splendid collection mark the arrival of a sharp, compelling new voice. “[Jane Gillette’s] characters are eccentric truth-tellers, great wits and observers, dinner party companions you’d fight to sit next to even as you were a bit afraid of them.” —Tina May Hall, author of The Physics of Imaginary Objects More

Living in Washington, D.C., New York City, Fort Bragg, Muncie, and Rome, the educated, world weary, wise-cracking women in Jane Gillette’s collection The Trail of the Demon and Other Stories show both seriousness and levity as they deal with the inexorable march of time. Gillette is concerned with her characters’ lives and with the odd and remarkable moments when everything comes together in a way that is not limited to the mundane world. She finds epiphanies that point beyond in surprising fashion. Her stories are compellingly honest about the nature of memory and personal history, moving freely in time and discovering the long view. Her prose is sharp, even lethal, as she strips away facades leaving these characters to find their truer selves. Advance praise for The Trail of the Demon and Other Stories places her among the pantheon of great literary short fiction writers. Of Gillette’s collection Alix Ohlin, author of Inside and Signs and Wonders, writes “Jane Gillette’s stories are laced with mordant humor and sharp insights about the realities of sex, race, and privilege. Her voice, reminiscent of Grace Paley or Edith Pearlman, is strong, smart and wholly her own.” May-Lee Chai, author of Dragon Chica and The Girl from Purple Mountain, says, “Whether dissecting racial anxiety or class resentment or various forms of jealousy and disappointment, Gillette's stories fearlessly expose the human heart beating beneath our civilization's many veils.”